There was a sigh from the quiet freezing halls that would all too soon be filled with students that rather be anywhere but in this building. She glanced around the slightly different walls of the High School, Konoha High School. It wasn't much different from the middle school, beside the fact that it's a two story building and they could eat lunch in the courtyard, only juniors and seniors could leave the campus for the whole lunch hour. Konohagakure wasn't a small town like it was when her ancestors had moved here. Now it was a rather large town that was border line of becoming a city. In reality konohagakure was big enough that it should be a city, but the government didn't want to Konoha any more money than they already had too; becoming a city meant they would give quite a bit more, they didn't like that idea. A woman with short dark hair sat behind the secretary desk in the office, typing away on her computer. The Principle's door was open, but she wanted to stop and chat with the secretary first. A small plaque sat on her desk, but she knew the name it read well.
"Hey Shizune-Chan, you look busy as ever." She smiled and gave a little wave as she moved close to the desk.
The woman looked up and smiled, "Sakura-Chan! You know Tsunade; always keeping me busy." She winked, "You look great. How was your fall break?"
"Pretty good, everyone wanted to go out so much that I'll be thankful when school keeps them busy again; since now I'm pretty much broke." Sakura chuckled.
"I'm glad you got to have some fun though, I know you're usually so busy." Shizune leaned back in her chair, rubbing her fingers.
"Yeah, though I plan on picking up a second job during Christmas holidays." Sakura smiled, thinking she might need to get out more. Although she already had her Christmas shopping done, so it was worth it.
A busty blond woman stuck her head out of the Principles office, "Shizune, want to go out for dinner tonight?"
"Yeah, that sounds fine." Shizune spun her chair to look at Tsunade. Shizune and Tsunade had been working together for a long time. Tsunade was a world renowned doctor, a genius; the best of the best. Shizune is the only apprentice Tsunade ever took on; she retired twenty years ago and was talked into becoming the Principal for Konoha by the Vice Principal Jiraiya. Who was rumored to be Tsunade's childhood friend.
"Sakura, you're here, good." Tsunade offered a small smile, "Come on in, let's talk."
Sakura had been in Tsunade's office more times than she could count, sophomore year she pretty much lived in here. She settled herself in the chair in the farthest corner by the bookcase, but she had the view of the parking lot and the forest just past that. Tsunade had become a mentor of sorts to her after freshmen year; she looked up to her a lot, even though Tsunade had a bit of a drinking issue.
"It's your senior year already, Sakura. Have you picked a college yet?" Tsunade asked as she took a drink out of a water bottle that Sakura knew didn't have water in it. Tsunade drinks Saki, like normal people drink water. Sakura smiled and thought about it, although she sent out several applications already she was pretty sure where she wanted to go.
"I think I still want to go to Konohagakure University." There are two colleges in Konohagakure; Konoha Community College and Konohagakure University. There are only number big Universities around which are the; Sunagakure (Sand) University, Iwagakure (Earth/Rock) University, Kumogakure (Lightning) University, Kirigakure (Water) Universirty, and the Konohagakure University. Each University is in a different country within the continent. The Sunagakure, which is in the Land of the Wind, is to the far west of Konohagakure and the climate is much different. "I think they have the best programs for me."
Tsunade nodded, "That's a good University, make sure to study hard." She put her water bottle down, "Now, I am sorry to ask you to come here on your break but, I need you to do something for me." She sat down behind her desk and pulled out some files. "Do you remember in your freshmen year I asked you to show around a transfer student and check up on him throughout his first week? Sakura, you went beyond what I asked and not only did you befriend him, but you made him feel more accepted in the school."
Sakura leaned back in her chair, "Yes, I remember, you're talking about Sai. I just saw him Tuesday, why?" She remembered Sai being quiet, weird, rude and nearly social unacceptable. It had taken her sometime to find out his personal interests, but when she had showed him the art rooms after her fourth day of dealing with him and his comments, she found that Said loved art; which was her in to finding him friends that shared a common interest.
Tsunade leaned forward on her desk, "We have a new transfer student, he is from the Suna and quite different from Sai. I want you to be his guide for the week and kind of look out for him." She stared at Sakura from across the desk. Sakura laced her fingers together, "Sure Tsunade, but what's the catch." There had to be one, for her to have this meeting now and not on Monday, when school started again. Almost like Tsunade wanted to give her time to prepare, but wasn't telling her what to prepare for.
Tsunade gave a hard smile, "He has a record, a long record. He has skipped school, defaced public property, got in fight after fight, cussed out his teachers and peers." Tsunade paused, "He has sent people to the hospital, he has been in a juvenile detention center, he has been arrested and last year he got in a fight and put a guy in a coma."
Sakura stared at the wall, taking this all in. Does Tsunade really think I can handle this guy? Sai was one thing, but this guy sounds dangerous. Sakura knew she could back out Tsunade couldn't, she wouldn't force her to do anything. She had a pretty clean record. "What happens if I say no?"
"Our school is his last option to graduate, no other schools will take him, and he has been kicked out of most the schools in the Wind country, the others wouldn't even consider it." Tsunade grimaced, "If you say no I can either have a different student show him around or I won't have anyone do it at all. I personally think you're the best student to do this, I see potential in him."
Sakura didn't say anything, she knew Tsuande wanted her to do this because she never treated people different no matter what the rumors or truths were; if she was pissed off, everybody got the same snappy short replies, if she was upset she ignored just about everyone, when she was happy she smiled at anyone. It never mattered to her. It's probably the same reason she wasn't popular like her old best friend, Yamanaka Ino. Sakura had been bullied about her appearance in elementary school; it really affected her until she met bubbly bright Ino. Ino had pretty blond hair and bright blue eyes, with a bubbly personality; she was Sakura's best friend from that moment on until middle school. Sakura closed her eyes, Ino and her's friendship had ended because Ino wanted to chase after a guy; who Sakura thought was cute, but she wasn't willing to throw everything away for. Maybe this will be good for me, Sakura opened her eyes, "I already agreed to, didn't I? I don't care about his record; it doesn't matter."
Sakura spend the next half an hour giving Tsunade ideas for school events, this years prom theme, how to make parents understand that cafeteria food isn't the same as a five star restaurant, what they should do for homecoming, is it worth it to try and raise money for homecoming, and a few other things Tsunade had been relying on Sakura's feedback for. They began to ignore the work in front of them fifteen minutes till three o'clock, opting for more relaxing chit-chat. Sakura often wondered how she became so close to her principal, but she really liked Tsunade. Sakura had just gotten Tsunade to agree to write a letter of recommendation when she found a good job, Shizune knocked on the door frame smiling at the clutter around Tsunade's desk.
"He's just arrived, I'll send him in."
A young man strode into the room; he glanced around for a moment before dropping himself into the only open chair in the room, by the door. His hair was disheveled, a shocking blood red color. The red head looked as if he almost never went out, but he wasn't pale enough to look sickly. His eyes stood out among his face, a piercing sea foam green, the black circles that encased them made his eyes look menacing. He wore torn up black jeans, some beat up old converses. He also wore a loose-fitting gray wife beater (muscle) shirt, a red and black hoodie zipped halfway up. He had two rings on his right hand, a metal bracelet on his left wrist, and he wore a necklace that disappeared into his shirt.
Tsunade introduced herself and gave him a lecture about her expectations of him at this school, what was allowed and what was not allowed. Tsunade told him about the lunches, where students could park, the standard; no drugs, no cussing, no fighting and no abusing privileges – or they could be taken away. "You can miss thirteen days all together; six because of sickness, four days for personal reasons, and three for just skipping. You can be late four times before a detention, seven times we'll call home, and nine times you get kicked out for a week. Ah, and don't even try to get out of gym class." Tsunade smiled evilly, "It's a required class every year."
He didn't look interested at all to Sakura, the whole time he had the I–don't–give–a–damn attitude. When he walked in, Sakura had stared he was gorgeous with the whole "bad boy" look; but he barely glanced at her. He hadn't looked anywhere but the wall behind Tsunade the whole time. He defiantly wasn't looking at Tsunade; his eyes had a glazed look, like he is trying to sleep with his eyes open or something. "You need a B or higher in every class this year, if you want to get into a college. Since it's your senior year, you are required to do some kind of volunteer work. Usually the kids have all four years of high school to get it done, but I'll give you until the end of summer. You only need forty hours of volunteer work Shizune will give you the paper work with everything else you'll get today, and you'll need the person in charge to sign off on it."
Tsuande started to clear off her desk, she gathered all the finical work she and Sakura were going over and put it away. Sakura had stood up and stared to file away the school events they were working on, proms theme, homecoming, and other things; she also grabbed the papers dealing with the cafeteria food. Tsunade watched her from the corner of her eye, "Sabaku no Gaara this is Haruno Sakura, Sakura this is Gaara." Tsunade said like Sakura hadn't been there the whole time or anything. Sakura rolled her eyes as she walked back to her seat. "I have asked Sakura to be your guide and helper for the first couple of weeks. If you need help with anything, tell Sakura; unless it's something that a student can't handle. If you need help getting around town, or want to know where someplace is, need information on getting onto a school team; Sakura can help you."
Sakura turned and smiled at the red-head, "It's nice to meet you Sakabu-San." Sabaku turned his head slightly, glanced at her and went back to looking in Tsuande's general area. Sakura's eye twitched, men are so insufferable. Tsunade had gone on speaking, but Sakura was currently visualizing straggling the gorgeous boy next to her.
"…Is that clear?" Tsunade asked, Sabaku's eyes flicked to Sakura then back to Tsunade and gave a slight nod and "Hn." Which was more of a grunt than an answer. "Good." Tsuande seemed to understand the mysteries of speaking guy's languages. She'll have to teach me someday, Sakura smiled at the idea. "Well, that's all I have to say, Gaara Shizune has all your paper work waiting at the front desk. Sakura, thank you for coming in and all your help."
Sakura smiled and gave Tsunade a little wave, before following Sabaku out of the office. She bypassed him to grab her hoddie, which she left behind Shizune's desk. Sabaku stood in front of Shizune, who is busy on the phone, while trying to finish a letter to a parent by the looks of it. Sakura could see Sabaku's file and the she knew where the volunteer paper work was. Almost like on auto-pilot, Sakura pulled out the correct volunteer papers, grabbed a post it and wrote down the three best places to go, stuck it on top of the papers. She reached around Shizune to grab the files; Shinzune looked up at her and smiled before frowning at the guy on the phone. Sakura shoved the papers in the file and walked around the desk. "Here." She handed them off to Sabaku and walked out the door.
